1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for managing applications of a plurality of home network devices (HNDs), and in particular, to a system and method for managing applications of a plurality of HNDs to integratedly manage the applications of the plurality of HNDs using a mobile hand-held device (MHD).
2. Description of the Related Art
A home network system is a system for controlling home network devices (HNDs), such as a TV, an audio system, a personal computer (PC), an air conditioner, a refrigerator, a microwave, an oven, and so on, by connecting the HNDs using a single home network at home. To construct a home network system, a method of constructing a common virtual computing environment known as middleware in HNDs distributed throughout a home and providing applications on the middleware has been suggested. The middleware enables communication between various HNDs in a home network and typically includes middleware that is compatible with one or more standard, such as the Home AV Interoperability (HAVI) standard and the Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) standard.
However, to enhance user convenience and system compatibility, the installation of up-to-date applications in addition to applications provided when HNDs were purchased has increased.
According to this trend, techniques for providing new applications to HNDs have been being developed. A representative platform of these home network techniques includes the Open Service Gateway initiative (OSGi®). The OSGi® provides a service execution environment, which is installed in a home gateway and can receive and operate various external services based on interoperation of a plurality of HNDs operating in a home network.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional application installation method. As illustrated in FIG. 1, an application server 110 stores various application files per HND vendor and installs the stored application files into a plurality of HNDs 140A-C through a gateway 120.
However, if each of the HNDs provides a user interface, when most HNDs at home are OSGi®-based devices, since each HND vendor provides a different user interface, it is inconvenient for a user to install application files. That is, a common user interface without vendor distinction for the user to manage an OSGi® life cycle for each HND is not provided.
If a certain HND does not provide a display function, the user must use a Web page type control page provided by a corresponding HND vendor. To do this, the user can access the control page only if the HND is connected to another HND in a home network. Thus, in an application update method of an HND operating on an OSGi® framework, the OSGi® framework manages life cycles of OSGi® applications downloaded from a repository provided by a corresponding HND vendor existing in a remote network, and then, a corresponding service is executed in the HND. Herein, the OSGi® framework performs the life cycle management using ‘install’, ‘uninstall’, ‘update’, ‘start’, ‘stop’, and so on. Repositories provided by each HND vendor include a repository for a basic service bundle and other repositories suitable for the user's taste and HNDs' functionality.
However, according to the application update method, location information to access a Web page or telnet for providing a life cycle management control of each HND must be determined (e.g., by the user) and input.
An application update time is determined using the methods described below. Firstly, as an automatic method, the application update time is automatically determined by the OSGi® framework periodically checking repositories corresponding to registered OSGi® applications and determining whether corresponding versions are changed. Secondly, as a manual method, the user directly determines whether registered applications are collectively or selectively updated.
In the first method, since the user's intention is not reflected on the content to be updated, even content not to be updated may be updated regardless of the user's desire. In addition, a separate display unit is required to check the updated content, and if an HND does not include a display unit, the updated content of the HND must be checked using another HND including a display unit.
In the second method, in a state where the user cannot determine whether applications are updated in repositories, even if the user individually requests update of applications of all HNDs, the update is performed only if updated applications exist in the application server, and therefore, efficiency and convenience of management of each HND is reduced.
As described above, various conventional home network middleware only separately control and manage HNDs existing at home using unique methods, but it is difficult for the conventional home network middleware to integratedly manage information of the HNDs. Moreover, in the prior art, it is difficult to check whether applications have been updated in an HND which does not include a display unit.